Assist grips are disposed in the passenger room of automobile in order that passengers can support their own bodies. Although the assist grips are available in stationary types, many of them have been coming recently to be used as rotary types. That is, a rotary type assist grip is disposed to come along a wall surface of passenger room when being out of service, and is rotated to come out when being in service so that passengers can grip it. Such a conventional rotary-type assist grip usually comprises a substantially-letter-U-shaped grip body, hinges, coil springs, and clips. The grip body is formed as a lengthy configuration, and has depressions for holding the hinges at the opposite side bases. The hinges are held rotatably in the hinge-holding depressions, respectively. The coil springs intervene between the hinges and the grip body to urge the hinges in a direction for accommodating the hinges into the hinge-holding depressions, respectively. The clips fix the hinges on a vehicle body because they are held on the hinges so as to engage with engagement holes that are formed in the vehicle body.
In the first conventional rotary-type assist grip, the clips fix the hinges on the vehicle body. When the first conventional rotary type assist grip is not used, an urging force resulting from the coil springs puts the grip body into the state that it comes along a wall face of passenger room, and so the grip body protrudes slightly into the passenger room. On the other hand, when the conventional rotary type assist grip is used, a passenger rotates the grip body about the rotary axis of the hinges against the urging force of the coil springs, thereby protruding the grip body into the passenger room. Thus, the passenger can grip the grip body, and hence can support his or her own body.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) Gazette No. 2006-175,990, or Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) Gazette No. 2006-117,074 proposes a second conventional rotary-type assist grip, for instance. This second conventional rotary-type assist grip comprises specific hinges and grip body. The hinges are provided with a pair of legs each of which has a through hole. The grip body is also provided with through holes that are formed in the hinge-holding depressions. Concretely speaking, the through holes are formed in two of the peripheral walls of the hinge-holding depressions, namely, in the right and left walls that face one another. This second conventional rotary-type assist grip can hold the hinges rotatably in the hinge-holding depressions because the through holes, which are formed in the hinges and the hinge-holding depressions, are put in place coaxially with each other, and because it further comprises pins that are pierced into the through holes.
However, in the second conventional rotary-type assist grip disclosed in the publications, the end face of the pins has been exposed in the outer surface of the hinge-holding depressions. Moreover, when a passenger rotates the grip body to use, the pins have come to be visible between the paired legs of the hinges. Therefore, the disclosed second conventional rotary-type assist grip has such a problem that it might be poor in the appearance because the pins' metallic luster is visible. In addition, in the disclosed second conventional rotary-type assist grip, the pins are knurled and are then fixed in the hinge-holding depressions by press fitting them into the through holes, in order to prevent the pins from coming off from the through holes. Consequently, the disclosed second conventional rotary-type assist grip is associated with such a drawback that it might be poor in the assemblage workability because greater man-hours might be required for press fitting the pins into the through holes.
Hence, Published Japanese Translation of PCT Application Gazette No. 2009-501,663 proposes a third conventional rotary-type assist grip in which the hinges are held rot at ably in the hinge-holding depressions. In the third conventional rotary-type assist grip, the hinges have a pair of legs that are provided with a shaft, respectively. The shafts are formed integrally with the legs to protrude outward therefrom. The hinge-holding depressions have peripheral walls, two of whose facing inner surfaces, right and left inner surfaces, are provided with a shaft hole, respectively. The shafts are engaged with the shaft holes rotatably, thereby holding the hinges rotatably in the hinge-holding depressions. The third conventional rotary-type assist grip has a better appearance because the setup makes the pins obsolete as well as makes the end of the protruding shafts invisible.
Moreover, Published Japanese Translation of PCT Application Gazette No. 2009-501,663 discloses such a design that gives a returning function to the grip body. That is, a spring case for accommodating coil spring is held between the paired legs of the hinges, respectively, thereby making the grip body returnable or retractable.
However, the third conventional rotary-type assist grip is associated with a drawback of poor assemblage workability because an assembly worker or robot engages the shafts with the shaft holes while deforming the paired legs of the hinges elastically so that they come nearer one another. Moreover, the third conventional rotary-type assist grip is also associated with another drawback that the shafts exhibit a lower strength than those of metallic pins because the shafts are made of resin. In addition, Published Japanese Translation of PCT Application Gazette No. 2009-501,663 does not disclose any specific construction for fixing the spring cases. Therefore, it is assumed that the spring cases might fall down or come off from the hinges.